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Sunday, December 7, 2014

Alice 'Kiara' Kabukuru (born 31 July 1975) is an American fashion model of Ugandan heritage who was a top model during the 1990s. She has been a CoverGirl model in addition to her Victoria's Secret work, for which she walked in the 1999 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

Kiara is from Uganda, a member of the Banyankole tribe. She escaped that country in 1980 with the assistance of Amnesty International.

A political refugee as a small child, Kiara Kabukuru moved to Los Angeles with her three siblings and came to live with her grandparents.

Kiara was discovered in the Northridge Fashion Center in Los Angeles shopping mall by photographer Bill Bodwell, who normally shot surfing pictures. Just 16 years old, Kiara knew a good thing when she heard it and quickly took up modelling. Her agent suggested that 'Alice' was a bit too prosaic, so she came up with 'Kiara' with help from the agent.

Kiara Kabukuru's first shoot was for Coca-Cola, and everybody loved her. Tom Ford took her under his wing, and soon the offers were flooding in, with Kiara moving to New York to shoot a Levi's ad. Soon Kiara was representing top brands such as L’Oréal, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Versace.

Kiara was rolling along at the peak of her career, posing for the 1998 Pirelli Calendar and taking on other prestigious assignments, when disaster struck.

While cycling in New York City, Kiara Kabukuru was run down by a semi-truck. This led to a lot of surgery and pain, but eventually Kiara was able to recover and once again do some modelling. Her re-debut was in a 2008 all-black issue of Vogue Italia.

Kiara continues to work as a model and lives in Greenwich Village. She is good friends with Gisele Bündchen and still maintaining her contacts in the modelling world. She had Editorials, for instance, in the May 2013 W and June 2013 Muse.

Kiara Kabukuru also helped found a nonprofit, Women for the World. Kiara continues to make her mark and clearly has unfinished business in the world of modelling.